China has announced plans for a new mega-airport just outside Beijing which has space to transport 130 million passengers a year as the current Beijing Capital Airport has no further space to grow.
BEIJING- Beijing Capital International Airport, the international gateway of China’s capital city, is victim of its own success. Expanded and opened with much fanfare just prior to the Olympics in 2010, the massive airport is already too small for the traffic. Its theoretical capacity is effectively set up at 76 million passengers a year.
But according to the data released by the Airports Council International (ACI) last week, Beijing Capital International recorded in 2012 close to 82 million passengers, a growth of 4.2% over 2011. The Chinese capital has retained its position as the world’s second busiest airport in 2012 just behind Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in the USA.
The number of daily passengers at the Chinese Capital airport exceeded 278,000 during peak travel periods in 2012. The airport has become increasingly busy in the last decade due to China’s robust economic growth. Ninety-four airlines were using it as a flight hub as of the end of last year, operating flights to 236 destinations, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.
Mulling the option of a new airport already two years ago, China’s government finally gave last week its approval to start the construction on a second airport. Located south of Beijing in Daxing District, the massive project was delayed as the current area belongs to China’s military. The location was however chosen due to the spare number of residences in the area.
The future airport is due to open by 2018 and would have in phase one a capacity for 40 million passengers. The airport will then be expanded to its ultimate capacity of 130 million passengers a year. It will also be able to have up to eight runways on an area equivalent to Bermudas Islands. It will be linked by a system of exclusive expressways as well as an airport express train which would cover the distance in 30 minutes to Beijing city centre.
(Image/ Design Copyright of NACO, Netherlands Airport Consultants B.V)
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
